No Other Way
by darkpanthress
Summary: There have been a lot of clichéd stories. This is picking some clichés and just dumping them into a new version of the story. Heero needs an out from a difficult situation with Relena, and the out seems to be a fake engagement!
1. Chapter 1

_Premise – There have been a lot of clichéd stories. This is picking some clichés and just dumping them into a new version of the story. Well, since I cant be bothered with originality, cliché it is! _

* * *

HEERO

Heero thunked his head onto the table for the third time. He had no one else to blame but himself for the mess he had gotten himself into. Really though, could he be faulted for not seeing this coming.

'It is your fault.'

Raising his head he glared, 'You're supposed to be making me feel better.'

'Well, I was going to try, until you decided banging your head against the table was the best option'

Glaring again at his brother-in-arms and one time friend he contemplated the various methods he could torture his friend and get away with it and make himself feel better. He listed about 5 methods in his head when that voice interrupted his thoughts . . . again.

'You know there could be a way out of this, if you put your head and thoughts to better use than trying to get rid of me,' the amused voice said.

Thunking his head against the table again he thought over it, 'No, there seems no other way. And contemplating ways to get rid of you seems much better.'

Scoffing the voice went on, 'How about if I had a way?'

Hearing that there maybe an out of this mess he had gotten into, Heero raised his head and looked beseechingly at his brother-in-arms and maybe his friend again.

Laughing the voice asked, 'Well, let's start from the beginning shall we?'

* * *

_It all started with him realizing he was alone. Emotions! Sometimes they just led him astray. Heero knew Relena was attracted to him. Hell, the woman had been dogging his steps all the way through the war and would not let him self-destruct or do anything permanently damaging because she was personally invested in him. _

_He felt it was because he had the capacity to give her a peace filled world. Duo aptly put it as, she was saving him for the time when she could get into his bed and remain in it. Forever. He had glared at Duo then. And Quatre who had the nerve to suggest the very same thing. _

_In hindsight, he realized that they were right. They probably were laughing at him right this moment too. Well, Duo would be, Quatre was trying to help him sort out the mess he was in. _

_From dealing with dangerous people and their need to destroy the world to dealing with spoilt princesses who knew how to manipulate and get their way, he was well and truly stuck. He had admitted that there was something that called to him. She was pretty and stubborn and was independent. He liked that about her. It was his reasoning for starting a relationship with her. _

_Sigh! Yes, he went ahead against advice and started a relationship with her. It was nice and happy initially, especially when he had no idea what to do now that the war was over. Having someone around to ground him and care and love him solely was a heady rush. _

_Two glorious months of loving a very beautiful girl, followed by the next four months of indecision and worry. Things were going smoothly, until he realized he could be of some use to the current society. But every time he tried to make a step in that direction, Relena would pull him away from his commitment and would need his expertise or decisions in something related her plans. _

_Hindsight again. He should have seen what she was doing. She was smart. He knew that. She cut him off from the world and the possibility to get his feet on the ground. She cut him off from his friends, as much as she could. Scowling to himself he realized that he was in essence her mistress. _

_Everyone knew she was with Heero, the Gundam pilot. And it was that wasn't it? The Gundam pilot status that had made him a celebrity and gave him the right to be seen by Relena's side. Romantics were gushing over the whirlwind and heart touching romance. A bodyguard and his princess. _

'_Heero, are you listening?' Relena's sweet voice jerked him out of his reverie. _

'_Hn?'_

'_We have a dinner party to attend this evening. Why don't you wear that tux that I love so much to see you in?' she smiled at him and carried on, 'It does make my heart flutter and makes everyone jealous of me.' _

_That was another thing he started noticing about her. _

'_Why don't you come pick me up at 5:30 sharp and we shall be there just in time!'_

_Politics was all about the behind the scenes politicking more than the decisions and discussion that everyone saw. Manipulation, appearances, fake emotions. He was getting tired of the duplicity and was taking stock of all that he had witnessed while Relena rambled on. He really should have paid attention!_

* * *

'What was she saying?'

"I don't know! I was tired and did not want to pay attention to her party plans!' Heero growled back.

When silence met his growl, he looked up sheepishly, he really didn't mean to snap.

Getting a sympathetic nod, 'She's going to be upset that you didn't show up.'

A simple statement really, but that cut to the quick. This wasn't about her, dammit! Before he could rant and rage about this some more he was interrupted. . . again.

'I know this isn't about her. This is about this relationship between you and her. A relationship where she wears the pants and she decides where it heads and when it stops.'

He growled. That was unfair.

'Don't you growl at me! This is your fault!'

'She wants to get married! How is that my fault?'

'Well obviously because you never put in your two cents in this relationship nor did you tell her that you were unhappy. . . . . . you were unhappy weren't you?'

That last was asked a little uncertainly. Looking into the concerned eyes staring at him, he focused on his emotions. They never led him astray before. Looking away, he nodded curtly. Yes, he was unhappy. And no, he could not or rather did not want to marry Relena.


	2. Chapter 2

HEERO

_In the end he had been staring at the tux laid out on the bed. She had liked this on him she had said, but it was for appearances, so why was he agreeing to wear it again? He hated it. Too constricting. _

_He snorted at that. There was something in the general vicinity of his heart that was thumping abnormally. Something was wrong. Everything about this party and the tux and Relena… there was something off. He just could not put his finger on it. _

_The shrill ring of a comm. unit, Relena must have left her's behind since he had not yet registered for one, had him reaching for it without conscious thought. _

'_Yuy.'_

'_Heero! Are you sure about this?' greeted him over the unit. _

'_Quatre?'_

'_Yes, it's me,' the blond replied waspishly, 'and I need to talk to you about not responding to all my calls all these weeks! But before that, why couldn't you just tell us that you loved her that much? Why do I have to read about it in the paper about you thinking of proposing to Relena?'_

'… _WHAT?'_

_A long sigh came over the comm. unit before Quatre replied, 'So it's not true?'_

'_. . . I'm not sure what you are talking about…' Heero was not so sure anymore. This was what was niggling him about today. Thinking back to the start of the week. Relena was unhappy and upset with him earlier in the week and then suddenly. . . her mood brightened. She had that look in her eyes – Damn! _

_Quatre seemed to be giving him some time and finally replied, 'The papers say that you have ordered a ring of some exorbitant amount,' he spoke quite matter-of-factly now, 'and they assume that you are going to propose to Relena at some party today, in fact it seems to be this evening. . .'_

_Heero's cursing broke the Arab off. That little … he was going to kill her! Of course that explained the reason for her change in her mood. If she cornered Heero into marrying her, he would find it hard to walk away, because she knew that he would not do anything that would look bad for the princess. His stupid honor code. Which she seemed to be taking advantage off! He really had to kill her! _

'_Now, Heero, calm dow-.'_

'_Calm down? Quatre! I can't calm down. She purposely manipulated the press and led them to-.'_

'_-believe that this was all a romantic relationship and that you were happy and content not having to work but to help her in her sole plans for the world. Yes, I figured, but right now the most important question is – do you want to marry her?'_

'_NO!'_

_Heero could hear his breath coming in short gasps. He had to control himself, it was not going to be good, losing control like this. _

'_Ok, then you don't have to go to the party.'_

_Heero paused. It was that simple? Before he could voice that thought, Quatre continued. _

'_She asked you to pick her up?' _

_Heero was nodding into the unit before he realized what he was doing and confirmed vocally that yes, he was told to go pick her up. _

'_Hmm… interesting, then Heero, you have been the best Gundam pilot ever. Nothing's going to keep you from just walking out that front door, though I would prefer if you exited from the back, and meet one of us. We'll help you figure out the rest.'_

_Finally in about 4 months he felt a grin tug at his lips. He had been quite juvenile hadn't he. Yes, he could escape from Relena's house undetected by the guards and staff that told Relena everything that he did. And of course he would enjoy getting out and meeting one of the other gundam pilots close at hand. As he busied himself to escape and listened to Quatre's instructions he wondered absently to himself, why did he take so long to figure out that he had their help all along?_

* * *

'What's that grin for?'

Shaking his head, grin still on his lips, he replied, 'I never realized that we were in a way a, *cough* family.' Smiling a little he forced himself to continue, 'I should have realized that you all were there and I could have asked for your help or talked to any of you if and when I had needed it. Hindsight…' Heero gruffly shrugged and cleared his throat. He did follow his emotions, talking about them however were a different matter.

An answering smirk across from the table made him realize that he was right in vocalizing his thoughts. Well, at least this time.

A comfortable silence fell over the two Gundam pilots while they sipped on their beer and listened to the strange music blaring from the pub's speakers.

Finally clearing his throat, he winced a little and asked the most important question that had him here in the first place, 'What do I do about Relena and this supposed proposal?'

It took a long pull of beer and two minutes of silence before he got something of an answer.

'You've been dating Relena for *cough* 6 months?'

At Heero's curt nod, his friend continued, 'The media has covered it in great detail of the two of you dating, stories from her of how *another cough* romantic you are,' Heero's jaw tightened at that, he knew his friend was trying to walk delicately around him with this issue.

'At the events that the two of you attended, you wore your poker face and her on your arm,' there was a question there that Heero did not, would not answer. Yes he was romantic and yes he displayed his emotions, it just wasn't for the media to know about.

Another cough, and then the rambling continued, and Heero hoped there was a point to all this, 'So, it's just Relena's word against yours.'

The eyes boring into his were trying to tell him something, something important. Shaking his head he grunted, 'Explain.'

'The stories of your romance, the media did not get word exactly from you nor Relena about it. It was always sources or pictures of the two of you at formal functions, events. There was no actual admitting to about a relationship between you and Relena by either of you.'

Hmmm, now that he thought about it, 'So, that means I can come out and tell the media that I am actually not interested in Relena nor am I actually proposing to her?'

'Technically, yes.'

That sounded good, he escaped from a near- wait there seemed to be something he was missing. His friend was staring at him with a very weighty expression like it wasn't that simple. Feeling his good cheer die, he sighed and asked, 'What am I missing?'

'It's been hinted. All about the relationship and everything. There are pictures and stories to make the hints seem more than it is,' a sip of beer, 'it could be changed around a bit with some help from some reliable sources.'

Drumming his fingers on the table, Heero listened and weighed everything in his mind. Huffing a little at the contemplation, when he shouldn't have been questioning his brothers-in-arms, he leaned forward, 'What's the plan?'

That seemed to shock the man in front of him. 'You're not going to ask the reasons-'

'I trust you as well as the others. I'm guessing, you have spoken to the others and they have a sense of what you have in mind?'

A pause and then, 'Not exactly, but yes.'

'So, tell me what the plan is and I'll go with it,' Heero countered confident now.

The widening of his friend's eyes and a swallow had the Wing pilot wondering if there was something he was missing. The next words confirmed that, yes, sadly he had missed something. . . again.

'You . . . me. . .,' a large swallow of the beer, 'you bought a ring and you have to propose to someone.' Big brown eyes stared at him with an expression he could not place, 'You have to propose to me.'


	3. Chapter 3

QUATRE

_Quatre was fuming. If he did not have the control that he had, he would want to do a Duo and blow something up. However, that would waste time and time was of the essence now. _

_Taking a deep breath, he tried to see if there was another way around this. Assured that this was the best option, he dialed the next number. There was no other way. _

'_Yes?' A tenor voice filled with sleep growled at him. _

_Damn. He had not considered that the other pilot was catching up on sleep after just completing a mission with Trowa. _

_There was no other way. _

'_I need to talk to you.'_

'_Clearly, else you would not have called,' was the sardonic response, 'Can't this wait?'_

_Trying to ignore the slight pleading that had leant itself into the last question, Quarte shook his head, 'No. Something urgent has happened. Heero needs your help.'_

'_What's wrong?' the alert voice questioned. _

_Yes, he had figured that would happen, 'Heero's apparently bought an engagement ring and going to propose to Relena this evening.'_

'… _I'm going back to-'_

'_- I have not finished. Lady Une mentioned that earlier this week she got a request from Heero to join in any of the missions with one of us, but then she was told to put that on hold, again,' he felt his voice harden over that and got an answering growl as well knowing he still had the man's attention, 'and suddenly there is a leaked story of Heero buying a ring and someone claiming that Heero was heard talking on the phone saying he would be proposing tonight.'_

'_Heero had no idea about all of this. I managed to get through to him finally, and he is escaping the woman's house as we speak,' Quatre needed to stay on track her and not get distracted by his anger, 'you need to meet him at 'Jakob's Pub. You're the only one closest to him. And you need to find out of a few things before you execute the next set of plans I have in mind.'_

'… _I'm not going to like your plan am I?' Quatre was asked warily. _

_Very innocently Quatre replied, 'No of course not. You will love my plan!' _

_A scoff on the other line told him, that he was fooling no one, Quatre just grinned and went on to detail his plan. _

'_Are you out of your mind?' the grumpy voice yelled, 'There is no way that it will work.'_

'_There are the stories and then the pictures. The public will look at the pictures and think it is fact. They will think there was a relationship. True, Heero was sleeping with the princess, but that does not mean that it is evident in any of the pictures. The news story has already published a picture of the ring and the proposal story is a little vague but can be believed. I'll have the exact ring given to Jakob to hand to you. Find out from Heero, if he really was in love with her. If not, then you can-'_

'_-and what? I step into Heero's bed?' _

'_You saying you don't want to?'_

'_That's.. . you are missing the point!'_

'_I'm not. Heero wanted stability and may have strayed from the path a little. He knows what he wants now.'_

'_Oh, so an engagement to me is what he wants?' the voice sneered. _

'_I'm trying to help my friend, and he wants an out from the situation he is in. If this helps you also along the way. . . '_

_Cursing on the other side had him pausing till the man calmed down. _

'_Wufei,' he asked softly, 'Do you want him to leave again and fall for someone else?'_

_A sigh on the other end told him that he had gotten the Chinese man's attention._

'_This is the only way.'_

'_I hope you are right Quatre,' he replied a little lost. _

_Feeling horrible for putting Wufei in this situation, he urged, 'You wont know until you try, Heero should be there in another half hour, go.' _

_Hanging up, he thought it over, sighing he leaned back in his chair and said to no one in particular, 'There's no other way.'_

* * *

WUFEI

Wufei wasn't sure if was his luckiest evening or if it was his unluckiest. Seeing Heero's mouth gaping and trying to assimilate that last statement had him quite convinced it was his unluckiest.

'What?'Heero croaked out finally.

'Blame Quatre,' he mumbled. At the stupefied expression on Heero's face, Wufei decided an explanation was in order. 'Quatre, as well as the rest of us, felt that you were happy in your relationship.' Peeking at the confused expression on Heero's face he continued, 'We felt, even though we could not contact you as before, you were happy and that's what mattered. That is, until we realized that you had tried to join the Preventers at least 7 times and each time some story ended up in the papers about you and Relena and the relationship, er, well, you know. So we figured there was something going on. We dug around and found you were not happy. Do you know we have all been trying to contact you for the past 4 months? All of us sent you messages, calls, if Relena wasn't picking them up, her staff were and-'

'Yes, I think I know. I knew they were spying or paying close attention to everything I was doing as was Relena. I was wondering why I had not heard from any of you.' Heero paused and then looked back at Wufei waiting for him to continue.

Gulping a little, 'Quatre feels that the ring and the proposal story are true, as in the public are going to believe it, and so we have to follow that completely. As in, you proposing with the ring, just to me and not Relena,' he was babbling and he knew it.

Closing his eyes and focusing a little, he opened his eyes and tried again, 'The story is vague in itself, so it does not mean that you were thinking of proposing to Relena. And the pictures are stark reminders to everyone, once the story breaks, that Relena was enamored with you, not the other way around. You were living in Relena's home, but not in her room. That can be written as you being her bodyguard as per Lady Une's orders,' at the quirk of Heero's eyebrow, 'Quatre's working on Lady Une.'

'So I play enamored with you, but stay at Relena's,' Heero tried summing up.

Nodding encouragingly, hoping he wasn't coming across as desperate Wufei placed the tiny box on the table between them. Any other day he would have laughed at two grown men staring at a tiny ring box as if it was a bomb, today, he was not sure his late breakfast was going to content itself with staying in his stomach.

Shaking his head, he repeated Quatre's plan, word for word right down to the, 'This is the only way.'

If he was not lacking sleep and if he wasn't going to be put into a very trying position, he would have whole heartedly agreed with Quatre. It was the only way, it took into account, Heero's need for stability, Relena's intact reputation and left the media scrambling trying to figure out where they went wrong. Simple plan really. If his heart did not feel cheated a little. Emotions!

A long sigh had him looking back at Heero and not at the bottom of his beer glass.

'He's right. It's the only way,' Heero looked at him more focused than he had seen him since the start of this impromptu meeting, 'I'll do it.'

Wufei wished he had been drinking something stronger than beer.


	4. Chapter 4

WUFEI

Quatre was right. This was the only way and it was a good plan. It saved him the guilt of having the honour code that demanded Relena be safe from the stories in the media.

Well, Relena would be screaming and raging behind closed doors, but the media would not know about that. It was all about appearances anyway.

There had to be a ring and engagement since the media broke the main story and it seemed to have come from Relena, playing the gay angle would leave everyone shocked. It would not be unplausible though, Quatre and Trowa were an item so what if Heero had been dating Wufei?

Pulling out the ring from the box on the table he looked at Wufei who had turned around in his seat trying to get Jakob's attention for another refill maybe. Looking at the ring and then back at Wufei, Heero shook his head. This was a terrible ring for Wufei. Putting it on the man's finger would be an insult. He'd have to get a chain made so that the ring could hang around Wufei's neck.

Looking at the neck in question, and seeing the graceful arch of the shorter man before him, Heero felt his old calm settle in place. He trusted the other pilots, as they did him. He could see himself engaged to Wufei. The man was pretty in a dangerous way. The fact that Wufei was agreeing to be his partner in this fake relationship meant a lot to him.

There was something though, that he was missing. He sensed it. But he'd question that later, right now, he'd settle for placing his ring on his friend and soon-to-be partner.

Picking up the ring, Heero clasped Wufei's left hand on the table, looking up to see he had the man's attention and slid the ring into place, with both staring into each other's eyes. In a strange way, it seemed . .. just right.

After a pause, he noticed quite amusingly that Wufei was flushed, pulling his hand away and trying to look everywhere but Heero. Smirking to himself, he managed to grab Jakob's attention and made the motion for the bill.

Looking back at the Shenlong pilot he said, 'How about we take this back to your place?' controlling the urge to laugh at the deeper flush sweeping over Wufei's face. Waving away Wufei's hands for the bill fold, he paid and stood up looking at Wufei expectantly. His initial reason was for hiding from Relena for tonight at least, since he was not that interested in rehashing his reason for missing the dinner party, but now, he felt there might be fun in pushing Wufei's buttons a bit. The man was an enigma and unraveling a little bit of him tonight would be fun. Besides, if he was engaged to the man, it was only right that he got to know the Chinese man more.

Conversationally, he asked, 'What were you doing before you came to meet me?'

'Sleeping,' was the curt reply.

Raising an eyebrow at Wufei he got the reason.

'Just finished a mission.'

'Ah.'

Following Wufei to the man's transport, he asked, 'So you were in bed?'

Wufei nodded and focused on crossing the street with Heero in tow.

Feeling a little more mischievous, now that there seemed to be hope from the situation he had landed in, he could not resist saying quite innocently, 'So, do I sleep with you?'

Wufei stumbled a little and would have fallen flat if not for his quick reflexes. Righting the man, he gave Wufei a 'what's-wrong-with-you' look, though he was smirking on the inside. Who knew the unflappable Wufei was actually flappable. Hmm, he was going to enjoy being engaged to Wufei.

* * *

DUO

An hour after the call from Quatre, he was still stumped. Yes he was upset that his best friend had almost been conned into an engagement, but that's not what had bothered him so much. Bothered was a much harsher word really. Bewildered was more like it. Heero and Wufei as an engaged couple.

Just thinking about the two of them in a relationship had him well and truly stunned. He should be doing more than sitting and indulging in the English language and its various words and actually help the two of his brothers-in-arm, but he was unable to get over the news.

Yes, Quatre was very much right. There was no other way. It was a good plan. Well, it would be a better plan if he could also put his relationship out there. Sighing he looked at the sleeping hunk of a man that made living all the more sweeter and coming home after those missions even more important.

Deciding he needed a little grounding and maybe some cuddling, he glanced at the clock and figured he could afford to wake the blonde. Besides he would be forgiven for the news he had and maybe, just maybe he could convince the other man to let him tell the world? So to speak.

Shaking out of his reverie, Duo walked over to bed and kissed a trail down the back of his lover and glanced into the smiling sleepy face of his lover and said, 'I have to tell you something.'


	5. Chapter 5

WUFEI

Voices drifted into the bedroom. That must be what woke him up. He contemplated moving and decided he was happy where he was. A loud laugh had him rethinking his idea of staying in bed. Clearly there were guests in his house and it was rude for him to still be in bed.

Thinking back to the previous night and he groaned aloud. Did he really want to wake up? Bad enough that he almost tripped outside the pub, coming home without incident everything was fine till it was time to hit the sack. Heero had no clothes and Wufei's track pants would be a tight fit for the tall and more muscular man. Even so, Heero's proclamation that he would continue with the tradition of wearing what he had always worn to bed for the past 6 months shocked him. Considering the man stripped down to nothing and then climbed into bed with Wufei. Trying to protest or even attempting to decide the couch would be better for him, got him nowhere, but a glare and a roughly commanded 'Sleep here!' had him in the same bed with a naked and snoring Heero.

Sleep had decided to evade Wufei for most of the night as he thought of his gorgeous man, well not his, but his. *Sigh* He was not even making any sense anymore! Bad enough Heero was being taken advantage of by Relena, now his body was trying to tell him he needed to take advantage of the man.

Another loud laugh from the living room had him sighing and stumbling out of bed. Deciding to take a quick shower and head out to see who had come so early. . . he stopped. The clock was telling him that it was 2:14 in the afternoon. That could not be possible.

Without thinking twice he headed out the bedroom door to the living room to check the time on the clock there. Yes, the clock said the same thing. Suddenly realizing that conversation had ceased, he looked around and noted that he really should not be surprised.

'You're up,' Heero stated.

Nodding, he realized how tired he must have been if he had not anticipated that Quatre would have wanted to check in on Heero and of course Trowa would have joined him, with possible supplies for Heero. They were both looking back at him calmly, looking like they were quite at home in his house. Absently he felt Heero nudge him into the arm chair opposite the couple and then a few minutes later a steaming cup of coffee was placed in his hands.

Almost on auto mode he took a few sips of coffee before he felt his brain start up with a jerk.

'It's 2 in the afternoon,' he stated quite plainly, not quite sure where he was going with that point.

'Yes, Heero let us in at around 11 in the morning,' Quatre replied quite cheerily, 'I got him some clothes.'

Grunting a little, Wufei took another sip and then glared at Trowa, why was the other man looking so fresh when he was on the same mission as the Chinese pilot. Traveling to see Heero would have eaten into his sleeping time.

Smirking a little Trowa said, as if he knew what Wufei was thinking, 'I had a shorter distance to cover to get home than you.'

Glaring at him some more as if he was the cause of his bad mood finished his cup and looked lost a little, till he felt his cup being taken away from him to be replenished and then handed back. Blinking twice he looked at the now filled cup and then at his savior. Hmm, he grinned, maybe being engaged to him was going to be ok he surmised before taking another sip of his coffee.

Hearing a quiet laugh, he turned to see Quatre grinning, 'It's amazing how you still need 2 cups of coffee to get going again.'

Wufei just snorted and continued drinking, till he finally got to the point of their visit. 'So what now?'

Heero cleared his throat, 'The papers today are rife with speculation today about Relena, me and the engagement.'

'I got a call from her last night,' Quatre filled in. 'She did not trace, and luckily enough, none among her staff were able to trace my call to Heero yesterday. But she suspects we are behind his disappearance.'

'Relena called Lady Une and demanded that the Preventers help with locating Heero. The Lady refused, and that brought on the ire of Relena and promises of threats,' Trowa softly added.

Quate continued smugly, 'Lady Une let slip that Heero was called away from his mission of protecting Relena to consult on a case of serious nature with another of the Gundam pilots. That should be out in the papers soon.'

Wufei stared at them. Quatre had predicted all of this and everything was going according to plan. Well, at least stage I - of getting Heero out from Relena's clutches – was almost complete.

'So, what else?' he asked trying to coax his mulish brain to catch up with the next stage in the plan.

Just then, the doorbell rang shocking him a little with its loud noise. He really needed to change the darn doorbell. It was just too shrill for his tastes, especially this early in the day for him!

Before he could move to open the door, the door was opened – from the outside – and Duo and Zechs walked in.

'Hello Everyone!' Duo crowed loudly, 'Really now Fei didn't we have this talk before?'

'About?' Looked like his home was now mission central.

'That noisy thing that masquerades as your doorbell!' Duo went on nonsensically, shutting the door behind him and going into a hugging mode and tackling everyone.

Suddenly Duo gasped theatrically and knelt in front of Wufei, 'Why Fei Fei, that is the most amazing sparkler I have ever seen! Who's the lucky man?' and winked at him.

Blushing deeply, he jerked his hand away, he had forgotten about the ring. Another sign that he had not slept enough. He was not lucky at all.

That was till, Zechs admonished, 'Don't annoy him, Duo.' Miraculously, Duo did stop, pouted and went over to sit – on Zechs' lap, causing everyone to pause in their amusement and look on in amazement.

Snorting into his coffee cup, Wufei grinned, ok not all bad, something he knew that the others didn't. Life wasn't all too bad.


	6. Chapter 6

HEERO

Wufei's snort of amusement had him assimilating the information before him. Quickly. Clearly Quatre and Trowa had not know, but Wufei had. Hmm, that meant that – 'Does Relena know?'

Zechs looked at him, blue eyes crinkling in amusement.

'Ah,' that explained a lot then. 'Congratulations, though I have to warn you, if you hurt him, 'Duo's exasperated gasp interrupted him, 'you'll answer to me.'

'To us,' Quatre added swiftly.

Zechs looked at all of them and shrugged saying, 'If I hurt him, I'll let you do that.'

Duo by then was going from angry to exasperated to embarrassed and finally, 'Geez, give the guy a break will ya, and I can take care of myself, thanks!'

'How long have you known,' Trowa asked Wufei, it was something Heero was curious to know too.

'Awhile,' Wufei said blandly, staring into his second empty cup of coffee. Absently Heero wondered if Wufei would need stronger doses of coffee to really wake him up. Shaking his head, he took the empty cup to go refill it, he quickly asked the others what they wanted to drink before heading to the kitchen.

Walking around the kitchen getting everything in order, Heero shook his head again. Last night, he had trouble sleeping. He just was not used to sharing space with another hard body. He never did sleep in Relena's bed after their sexual activities. Grimacing, he cursed his stupidity for getting himself into a position that required his best friends to bail him out of. Waking early in the morning he was unsure about the plan. Yes! There was no other way. But did that mean he had to sacrifice Wufei's privacy just to get out of Relena's clutches?

Sighing and whipping up everyone's drinks, he hoped he figured out what he was missing. It was important. Quatre kept talking through the morning, updating him on their lives and little anecdotes and all the while - Heero was not sure - but he was missing something very vital.

Exhaling a little, he acknowledged - yes, he was out of the game a little too long, but he was a Gundam pilot. The best, in fact, and he would get through this and figure everything out.

_This was the only way!_

* * *

TROWA

He wasn't as awake as he had led Wufei to believe. Why, he had to laugh it off, he had no idea. He had long ago realised it was no good to lie about little things like how tired he was. Sighing inwardly he thought back to the reason he was sitting in Wufei's house. Quatre had woken him up immediately and explained why they needed to rush to Heero's and Wufei's side this morning.

That mothering nature in his lover was endearing at times, though, right now it was clearly more meddlesome mode than mothering mode. All morning Quatre had dropped hints about Wufei's likes and dislikes to Heero. If the little dragon heard about it, he would take Quatre to town over it. Trowa was quite happy to let the Chinese man do it too. That's how annoyed he was with his lover. The only thankful thing in that whole exercise was that Heero seemed to miss all those cues.

Sighing under his breath, he really hoped that coffee was coming soon. He needed his mind sharp for the planning. And there was a lot of planning to be done. Heero had missed all the subtle hints Quatre had sent his way. That did not bode well. It would mean that they would have to come up with a more explicit game plan than winging it, as Quatre had suggested.

Zechs and Duo were conversing with Wufei and Quatre and getting up to speed. He settled back and they could work this out without too much of an upheaval? He snorted mentally. Unlikely.

Watching Heero come back with the beverages, he gave a happy sigh, earning a questioning look from his lover. He shrugged, he wanted his coffee to stay awake and it was a struggle right now. Especially now that they were all going to pool their resources and start building a few lies into the past to cement the 'relationship' of Wufei and Heero.

Wrapping his hands around his cup and taking a sip, he gave an appreciative sigh, coffee was always good. Having his family around, even better.

Making sure that his lover did not come on too strong and tell Heero to take Wufei to his bed immediately to add more credibility to their story?

_Now that was going to be troublesome._


	7. Chapter 7

DUO

Relishing his cup of java, Duo looked over the rim of his cup at the others. It was a leap of faith that asked, er, begged Zechs to come out to his family about their relationship. He suspected Wufei had seen them once, but would have kept quiet about the whole thing.

But having Zechs accepted, and acknowledged as his lover, it was something he had wanted for a long time. He held off, mostly cause they were all focused on getting in touch with Heero, and it had seemed sad to rub in Wufei's face that he too had settled down but for the Chinese pilot. Taking another sip, he looked around the room.

He loved these men around him. He would do anything for them. Relena was not his favourite person and he would have loved to ignore her, but manipulation and trapping someone in marriage, especially his brother was crossing the line.

Watching as everyone nursed their drinks and pooled their data of information and all that they had already done, he reveled in the heat at his back. While speaking to Quatre he had managed to convince the blond that Zechs would have been able to help - without revealing his relationship – and thankfully Quatre had agreed wholeheartedly to this. Having Zechs agree to the plan that Quatre had come up with was a pleasant surprise. He knew Zechs would do anything if it would make Duo happy, but that was the same for Duo too. Knowing that his blond lover was fine with a confrontation with his own sister and in effect helping Duo's family was quite humbling. He really was a lucky man!

He owed Zechs big time for this. Maybe a shiny sparkler like the one Wufei had on his finger. Snickering inwardly he focused on Wufei and Heero. It would be difficult to see what happened after Relena was sorted, would Heero stay? Would Wufei hang on to Heero and lay his heart on the line?

Hmm, he would wait and keep an eye on his bros, it was the least he could do.

Exhaling loudly, he looked at Quatre and said, 'So shall we proceed?'

Noticing looks exchanged by everyone he realized that was all it took to get everyone into mission mode. Tables were cleared, laptops were brought out, strategies were discussed, overthrown or agreed on. Phone calls were made to lay more ground to their story.

While they worked, each of them took turns to supply food or beverages throughout the evening and then night. Come midnight, they all sat around and grinned. Stage I was complete – that they were sure of.

Stage II – now that was going to be a pleasure over the next few days.

Grinning maniacally, Duo shared a smile with Zechs. Sighing happily he agreed again, he really was a lucky man!

* * *

HEERO

Days had passed in relative calmness. Humming under his breath, he keyed in some more comments to his mission report on his laptop. To add credence to Une's lie to Relena – Heero had been sent out onto the field. And he loved it! It was a simple surveillance mission operation, with Duo as his partner. It showed him how rusty he had gotten, but that still did nothing to get the grin that seemed to constantly be on his face from falling off.

Coming back, he noted how the media had been rife with a lot of speculation, rumours and paparazzi photos – all of Relena of course. There were leading questions thrown at her to ask about Heero and if he had dumped her, but she smiled through it all and pretended that all was good in her life. Heero had just stepped out for some business with the Preventer's, he would be back. Snorting, he shook his head, it was being acknowledged now that he was part of the Preventers . . . or rather that he had been all along!

He smiled to himself as he remembered what brought all this about.

* * *

'…_so you see this is necessary-' the voice on the comm. unit was assuring him. _

'_I don't understand–' his eyes narrowed as he asked, 'Quatre asked you to?'. _

_A nervous laugh answered him. _

_Huffing a little he asked, 'What did he say?' _

_Silence greeted him a few moments, till an arched eyebrow from him made the person on the screen hurry to respond, 'I have wanted all the Gundam pilots to work for Preventers. It makes the Preventers seem a lot more formidable and unwilling to compromise on the peace we just gained.' She was starting to ramble now, 'Winner – and I - agree completely that had you been working as Relena's bodyguard under the Preventers' directive, you would have been paid for your efforts. And since we are propagating the notion that you have been working since the time the others had joined, it was necessary to count the number of times you were seen with Ms. Darlian and then add the appropriate funds to your account.' _

_Heero sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, it made sense, but yet he needed to make sure. _

_A gentle smile filled the screen, 'Heero, you were her protection even when she had bodyguards. Every time you sent me a request to join, she had you change your attention to the details of her rallies or her protection detail. That was work I would have given you, had you joined the Preventers. So you see, it is perfectly fair. And,' she hurried stopping him with her hand, 'Winner and Chang checked the number of times you were with Relena as a bodyguard sort of figure and calculated the amount. Maxwell made sure to, umm… if people were to see into your accounts or the Preventers, they would see that we have been paying you from the time you have been with Relena.'_

_A slight shrug from the screen had him realizing that he had to accept everything Lady Une had said. He nodded and finally said, 'I accept.'_

* * *

Solid facts had been laid. He was a bodyguard, he was close at hand, he was being paid, and the pictures proved it just as much. He shook his head a little, he had tallied the amount with the number of pictures that could have proved he was acting as a bodyguard and he was amused to note that he had been the exact amount had he been part of Preventers. Not one coin more, nor one less.

Shutting the screen, he stretched and looked at the time on the clock. Wufei would be coming home within the hour from his latest mission, best to get dinner started now.

Opening cupboards and setting pans on the stove and cutting the vegetables his mind went over the events of the past few days.

Heero's marked absence had been explained by a 'rumour' of Heero having been shifted urgently by the Preventers on another important case. That had been the first day since their plan had been put into action.

The second day, had been filled with news of the Zechs and Duo. Rumours had swirled when Duo had bought a ring, the said ring appearing on Zechs' finger two days later. To further the story, someone had managed to sneak up and capture a picture of a torrid make-out session between the two. Of course because of that, Trowa and Quatre's relationship was also unearthed quite 'expertly' by the media.

Sighing to himself, he wondered how the pilots could ever go back to being ordinary citizens when their pictures were splattered everywhere on the pages of magazines and news alike. Relena seemed to be in the prettiest and sweetest of temperaments on the pages herself, however, behind doors. . . he was sure it was not so.

Wufei's picture had not been splashed on the pages yet. That was not in the cards yet. The ring had been hidden around a chain that hung around his neck. That would be the next thing to dish up to the paparazzi, frowning to himself, he realized with a jolt he was not sure if he was happy about it.

Waiting for the food to get ready, he looked at the time again. It was time. Tonight, or rather tomorrow, this whole fiasco would have another angle added to it. Sighing, he hoped he was ready for the final outcome.

_There was no other way! _


End file.
